LoZ: Winds of Change
by Resident Evil Lionhart
Summary: Sequel to Power Shift. Link gets sucked back in time to when Midna was helping him. He decides to see about finding a way to kill Ganon once and for all. He just needs to talk his other self into helping and he'll be all set, right?
1. Stuck in the Past

**Well, I've done some editing of some things, so if it looks a little different then that is why.**

Chapter One: Stuck in the Past

When I woke up, I realized that I was not where I had fallen. In fact, although I recognized where I was at, it should not have been. Just looking around was enough to realize that I was either in an alternate dimension, or I was simply in the past.

You see, I recognized this place because it had been a part of one of my past lives' adventures. This was back when the Gerudo Desert was still completely cut off from the rest of the world and was still a prison for evil. This was before the Mirror of Twilight was forgotten and hidden. Moreover, this was before Ganon first died and then reincarnated. For you see, a thousand years ago my time Ganondorf was merely sealed away as he had been for a long time. Since he reincarnated anyway, I think it would be safe to assume that he had gotten himself murdered in the Dark Realm where he was sealed. Here, he was exiled, wounded, to the Twilight Realm but not killed.

If I were to remember correctly, then this would be the first time I were to kill him in our centuries long battle of seal and reincarnate to seal again.

I pulled off my left glove and examined the back of my hand. The Triforce of Power still glowed there. If _**I **_had it, then did Ganon have it still, and if he did, did that mean there were _**two**_ Triforces of Power? How would that affect the space-time continuum or whatever?

Either way, I had to find out more and to do that I would need to travel to one of the cities here. Since I would look too much like a doppelganger of my past self-looking like Link the Hero of Time, I decided to adopt my true form. I simply created a black, hooded cloak with my shade powers, put it on and pulled the hood up.

It was the best I could do until I found out how far into the adventure my past self was.

Currently, I was in the Faron Woods. A place not at all like the Kokiri Forest I most recently got used to. Really, it was more of a buffer between the fields of Hyrule and the lands of Ordon Village.

Ordon was a village I had been born into, what? Five, six thousand years ago? Either way, it was a long time ago, and I could barely remember what had happened. I knew, however, that if I saw something, then it would jog memories about it. Like places and whatnot.

I really wanted to call for Epona, but…What if my past self was already riding her? That was not the way I wanted to meet my other self. Especially since I would then have to explain how I knew to call her, when technically I hadn't even met her yet. All this thinking was giving me a headache.

Stupid time reversal.

Therefore, I decided to attempt to warp and see how many warp gates my previous self had opened yet, and then I could find out where his progress was and move from there. Simple, right? Or so I hoped. If Zant or Midna noticed a third party using the warp gates, things could potentially get awkward.


	2. Figuring One's Options

**Yet again I forgot the disclaimer until second chapter, lol. The chapters seem short on here, but let me tell you, they seem much longer on my document thing. Next chapter should be much longer though. This is kind of a transition chapter, lol. I hate those.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own or even claim to own Zelda or any of the characters. Only the plot and any originals are mine.**

Chapter Two: Figuring One's Options

Gesturing a portal open, I took heart in the fact that my powers were still intact. In fact, I could even go so far as to say they increased slightly. It might have been from the fact that the Twilight was still flowing into the Light Realm, but I may never know.

Describing the portal as anything other than _dark _would almost be impossible. Essentially, it was just a humanoid sized oval of dark magic, black in its entirety and impossible for a Light dweller to see. At least, impossible for a normal one to see into. I wondered if my past self would be able to see into it.

But I digress. I should be thinking of where I will go, not whether or not my other self could see through the darkness.

That was another matter. Where should I go? Hyrule Castletown would be a good place for information. I could go to that bar and look at the map for clues to where Link had gone. Or I could if he had gotten that far.

Then again, if he were at a certain point, then there would be no point to going to check because he could be past there and on to the fight for Ilia's memory or the fight for Hyrule Castle itself. In either case, the map would probably be gone or outdated, useless to me in either way.

I could go looking around the field in search of him and follow him if I find him, but then I could be waiting much too long if he's in one of the temples or something as equally long. Hell, the desert itself took a week to traverse from canon landing to Arbiter's Grounds. The field, on Epona, took just as long from one end to the other and much, much longer by foot.

Another way was to just show up at Castletown, check for the giant barrier and make a call from there. If the barrier was still up then I knew I could still go to the map in the bar and see where he could be. If the barrier was down, I had two options. One was that he had already defeated Zant and was in the Castle; or two, the light spirit in Lake Hylia had not hurt Midna and Link was not stuck as a wolf yet and on their way to Hyrule to get Zelda's help.

Zelda. I had almost forgotten her. Would I be able to talk her into passing a note to her reincarnated self to stop the foolishness in the future? It was something to think about later. For now, I had concerns that are more pressing.

The more I thought of it, the more the last option seemed to be the best. So, cloak wrapped tightly around me, I stepped into the portal and hoped for the best.


	3. Working With the Past

**Sorry it's been so long, but no reviews makes me slower. That and I had writer's block, lol. Here's a really long chapter, at least, from me its really long. Enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I do not own, and will never own, Legend of Zelda or its characters and places. I am merely borrowing them to torture as I please.

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><p>Chapter Three: Working with the Past<p>

As I stepped out of the portal into the abandoned alley leading to the bar, I was bombarded with the smells and sounds coming from up above the entry-stairs. I could smell baked goods, pungent cheeses and produce, and many icky things as well. Such as paupers who could not afford to wash. There were also the sounds of people walking, talking, haggling, laughing and even whispering. There were the sounds of carts rumbling past, people calling out for others to buy something, bags rustled, rupees exchanged for goods, and the general sounds of the hustle and bustle in town.

Even though people walked by the entry-stairs on their way to whatever it was they did, no one saw me as I walked up to the bar's door. It was extremely shaded by the overhanging roofs of the bar and its neighbor that I could not remember the inside. Just one of the reasons why I had used it to warp or transform in the past. Or present now, whichever. The problem was that it also prevented easy sight to the barrier, so I decided to make my way up the entry-stairs to the upper part of the town and take a quick look.

Nope, no barrier. Back down I went, and as I stepped off the last step, the doctor from the town opened the door and claimed, "I am a human doctor, and I cannot treat the likes of a Zora! That boy is alone in this."

That was when I found out just when I had gotten here. In fact, both of me had just gotten here by the sound of it. I pressed myself against the wall as the doctor walked up the steps and partially hid myself as the other Link looked out the door as it closed before looking back inside. Once it had closed, I walked to the door and opened it.

Link had walked over to where I remembered Ilia having watched over the Zora Prince, Ralis, and was just getting the brush off from her not recognizing him and I ended up seeing the hurt in his eyes. Moreover, listened to -Telma, wasn't it? - tell him that she had lost her memory and that she knew of a doctor in Kakariko that had treated Zora and Gorons before.

Eager to help, he agreed to escort them and the kid to Kakariko in a wagon since all of the guards were utter cowardly morons and he wanted to protect Ilia. Of course, I was not about to be left behind when things could not have been better. He had just met Midna recently and just started the recovery of the Fused Shadows for her. It might be easier to join them now and get Link's approval, though I could just "shadow" them from a distance, as ironic as that would be.

Making sure my cloak was on tight and my glamour was still off, I stepped up to Link and Telma and cleared my throat, getting their attention.

"I happened to over hear your conversation just now, and would like to offer my services as well. I too am a swordsman and have no fear of monsters that may be on the road." I offered, a gloved hand held out and slightly gesturing as I spoke.

The low lighting made seeing my face under the hood nearly impossible, though that did not stop Telma from trying. "And who are you, young man?" she asked, slightly suspicious, I could tell.

"You can call me Dark for now." I allowed, knowing that to keep such a thing from them as a name would call unnecessary attention to me. I wanted to keep this impersonal to them, though I would try to keep with Link later.

In my head, that is what I called him, since I no longer associated him as myself, though I still remembered.

"And I am actually interested in seeing this Zora make it. (If only to spite that ugly old doctor.) Please, let me help."

"Well, if you insist, honey. Just be sure you can handle yourself out there," she looked doubtful, but no longer suspicious. That was fine with me, she would see soon enough.

After being informed about their plans to leave, Ilia happily nodded her head in agreement and excitedly began packing. How she could know what to pack for the road when she had lost her memory was beyond me, but maybe she had learned it again when the old woman from the abandoned village had helped her escape.

Either way, she and Telma began packing as Link and I separately made sure our equipment was ready. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that he kept shooting glances at me in what I could see as curiosity. That in turn sparked my own curiosity. What was it that he was curious about?

"What is it?" I asked without looking up. I could still see him go slightly pink from embarrassment, and he looked away.

"I was just curious as to why you keep your hood on, even though it's dark in here," he explained as he continued his own check.

"Ah. Well, I don't want anyone to be able to recognize me and come after me. My… "Job" isn't exactly kind to its employees sometimes," I replied as I finished my check, satisfied that none of it would break or fall apart on me while on the road.

"Your job?" he asked quietly, still curious and a little bit wary now.

"Yes, my job. I am a…Mercenary of sorts. I do mostly monster hunting, but sometimes there may come other types of jobs. Of the kind I can't speak about." I add when it looks like he might inquire further. He closed his mouth and became lost in thought. "Don't worry; I'm not on a job now. In fact, I was coming here to this bar for some relaxation time and what could be more relaxing than some minor monster hunt?"

I laughed quietly so that Link was the only one to hear it. I looked down at myself in one last check and noticed that one of my boot buckles were undone, so I bent down to re-clasp it. My boots, like the rest of my outfit I chose to create, were black with silver buckles. My pants that were seen when I bent down were also black with gold trim at the bottom and my tunic was black with gold trim around the bottom and arms. My gauntlets were black instead of the usual brown and had the added benefit of hiding the energy signature of the Triforce piece.

The cloak covered it all when I stood straight and under my hood, my hair was black as well. My skin was pale as if I had never seen sunlight, and my eyes were crimson. Unbelievably, I was reincarnated this way when I got the Triforce of Power. I also obviously got my shade powers from the piece as well.

Thinking of the Triforce, I looked at Link's left hand and saw Courage sitting there on his hand like a triangle shaped tattoo. It was far too weird. Though, not as bad as seeing "good" Ganon in my present.

Perhaps this is what Dark Link had seen back in the Water Temple one thousand years before _my_ present.

Telma picked up the Zora kid and opened the door before I was shaken from my reminiscence by Link as he passed to join her and Ilia. He looked at me searchingly for a second before giving up and quickly joining the girls to get a wagon outside the city. I followed behind a few paces, keeping to myself to keep up the act.

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><p>I had to buy a horse before we could go, but it did not take long to find one I liked (a black stallion) and had him saddled up and ready to go. His name was Malice and he was special, I could see it. I was told that he had bucked off every other rider, just as Epona had in my time. I loved him already. He was strong and beautiful and just my type of horse, since I could not have Epona.<p>

When I rode him to the meeting place to start the journey, I watched as Link looked appreciatively at Malice. I could tell he liked him too. This only made sense, really.

"Ready to go, boys?" Telma asked. When we nodded our heads, she flicked the reins of the horse driving the wagon and started. We followed her to the south side where one could easily see the bridge above Lake Hylia and the monster-Moblin- that patrolled it on boar back.

"Since you said the bridge to the east was destroyed," Telma began, looking at Link as she spoke. "We'll have to cross the one to the west. See what that entails? Think you can handle it, sugar?"

Link nodded and looked at me. I shrugged and gestured at him. He could handle it alone. He nodded in understanding and we turned around to follow the road to the bridge. Thanks to the other two bridges going into Hyrule Castletown being broken, we had had to go out the west gate anyway, so in a way it was faster.

Once we got to the bridge without any monsters ambushing us, I stayed to protect the wagon while Link went out to challenge the monster. Technically, I could have controlled the monster to just jump off the bridge but one, where's the fun in that? In addition, two, everyone would have been more than a little suspicious since Moblins did not make it a habit to jump to their deaths upon seeing humans. Not even _they_ were that stupid.

As I had remembered, Link had no troubles whatsoever with the Moblin and within minutes we were off and going again. I took up the rear, with the wagon in the middle between Link and myself. I took up this position to: one, protect the wagon from the monsters on the boars that attacked with fire arrows; two, protect from the bird monsters with bombs in their claws that would spook the horse hitched to the wagon; and three, to watch how good Link was to remember his skills again.

I still had problems thinking of him as me sometimes. He just seemed so innocent, if a little wild too. How can someone be both innocent and wild? Is a wolf evil just because it kills to eat?

It took us a little over two hours to reach Kakariko since we were really booking it. The horses never really got a chance to walk at anytime during the trip, so we managed to get there probably in record time. I merely had to use my bow and arrows to kill the monsters. I had had thousands of years to perfect using it after all.

Once, when I saved Link's butt with a well placed arrow into the neck of a bird monster that was going to peck him in the head, he gave me a large grin before turning around to continue clearing a path. Right then, I think, he trusted me a whole lot more. And honestly, I think that I felt a small twinge of guilt for what I was planning. I mean, what right did I have to mess up his life?

Oh yeah, I _was_ him, so it didn't matter, right? On the other hand, did it. I was definitely beginning to get doubts about my mission here in the past. What if I messed up this time and Link died because of me? Would I disappear, or would I stay here because it was a different dimension?

When I heard Epona whinny when Link stopped her in front of Kakariko's damaged inn, I decided to leave that for later. For now, I still needed to see what was going to happen next. I could make a decision when it got to that point.

It did make me wonder if Ganon had just gotten bored of always being the bad guy and getting his ass kicked by me. That thought made my ego swell a little, and made me smile under my hood.

Malice snorted in warning and broke me from my thoughts. When I looked up to see who had startled him, I saw the one person I did not think I would see yet: Midna.

She was floating in front of Malice and was swaying side to side while staring at me. Her long orange hair was swaying in the opposite direction from her and only one of her crimson eyes was visible. The large crown thing on her head covered the other one. She already had the Fused Shadow from before she had met Link. She seemed naked, but her clothes were fused into her skin as an imp so everything was still covered.

Finally tired of her staring without saying anything, I asked, "Can I help you?"

It was extremely amusing to see her face light up in surprise.

"You can see me?" she asked. That is when I realized that she must have been in her shadow form and that I should not be able to see her.

Instead of showing my surprise and feigning ignorance, I replied, "I'm talking to you aren't I? Why shouldn't I be able to see you?"

She gave me an incredulous look that just screamed, "Are you serious?" Snickering, I turned Malice around and urged him into a trot to the light spirit's spring. The spring held healing properties, and I remembered using it several times upon this journey when I was Link. At the last second, I grabbed Epona's reins and she followed us to the spring.

Hopping out of Malice's saddle, I began bathing the horses' legs in the water. Running or jumping could really hurt their legs, and washing them with the healing water would prevent future problems.

Sensing people walking nearer, I looked up to see Telma and Renado walking my way and Link following the spirit of Ralis' mother to get the Zora tunic that would allow him to breathe under water. Talking quietly, Renado and Telma seemed happy. It made me wonder what had caused him to say later that he couldn't handle talking to her.

I turned back to my work after considering them as non-threatening. I never did see either of them as fighters, then and now.

After a few more minutes, Telma and Link -who had come back from the Zora King's tomb- walked up to me. Finishing up with Epona's legs, I looked up.

"I was wondering if you were willing to put your skills to use in protection Hyrule." Telma began. However, I raised a hand to silence her and stated,

"I have no intention to protect Hyrule. My only reason for being here is personal. I am willing to follow Link around for awhile, though. He seems pretty interesting and might make my personal mission faster. If that ends up helping Hyrule, then so be it."

"That's quite a speech," Telma smiled after the shock wore off.

"Uh, thanks?" I replied. What was I supposed to say to that?

"Well, honey, what do you say?" Telma asked Link. He just shrugged and smiled. Oh yes, definitely still innocent.


	4. To Wait By the Master Sword

**I really had had three out for a long time now, but no one reviewed! -.-' So, I decided to put both of these out, and as such this one is a little shorter...Okay, a lot shorter, but so what? Anyway, Review! I don't own Zelda, and any one who says I do will be sued by me for horrible lies! lol**

Chapter Four: To Wait By the Master Sword

It wasn't surprising when I was split up from Link a few days later. I mean, come on! I didn't have my Zora tunic with me, and how were they supposed to know I could use my magic to allow me to breathe underwater? There really was no other way to get to the Lake-bottom temple, and I _really_ didn't want them to know about my powers yet. Let them think of me as just a good swordsman/archer a bit longer.

It was surprising, however, when the mission I was sent on was to help the other members with gathering information on the special areas I knew held the pieces of the Mirror of Twilight.

At first, they didn't know who to send me with, so they just decided that if one of them needed help, I would be sent to them. Otherwise, I was stuck waiting in Telma's bar.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the tiny place, but the way the mailman sat in the corner and mumbled to himself about what he would order just gave me the creeps.

That was where I was when I felt more than saw Link slinking around up above. Zant must have hurt Midna already. Casually, I looked up and stared at him. He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked down, right at me.

I must say I felt a slight shiver of smugness when I saw the look of almost-horror when he saw me staring. I just smiled and nodded almost imperceptively, just enough for him to get that I wasn't going to stop him or raise an alarm. He gave me a questioning look before the sound of Midna panting shook him from his thoughts and he returned to the real world.

Knowing what I did, I knew that only he and I could hear her, but it was still best for him to get a move on. He too realized this and, after shaking his head slightly, continued to quickly but quietly race on to the trap door that lead to Zelda's castle.

I knew he would return some days later with Midna healed, to look at the map for the first clue to the shards, if not to confront me about my actions just then.

Meanwhile, I just sat there bored and nursing a small glass of milk. I recognized the difference between Lon Lon Milk and Ordon Milk, and I prefer Lon Lon Milk hands down. This stuff tasted a little watered down for my current tastes.

Sometimes I would catch myself talking about Link as if he were me, and other times as if he were someone entirely different.

I wondered…Would this confusion ever leave me, or would I return to my time before it would dispel?

Later that night, I decided that there would be no harm in going out and "letting my hair down," as the saying goes. I excused myself to Telma saying I was turning in for the night and that I missed sleeping under the stars.

"No problem, honey. Link's like that sometimes too," Telma had replied, smiling as she had no clue just how alike he and I really were and making me shiver under my cloak at the irony.

Wondering where I should go, I realized that I could go ahead to the Sacred Forest Meadow to where the Master Sword awaited Link and also where his curse would be broken. He had been given a dark item by Zant when he had attacked them, and only the Master Sword could remove it.

Might make me seem even more mysterious if I walk out of the shadows to greet them after he gets it. Even though it _would_ remind me of when Ganondorf had snuck up on me and got to the Sacred Realm once I had removed the Master Sword, one thousand years ago my time. At least, this time _I_ wasn't trying to take over the world as _he_ had been.

Looking around the alley where the bar's door was located and finding no one looking, I opened a portal to the Meadow and walked through. As my feet touched the grass, I inhaled the fresh forest scent and sighed it back out. I had really missed the open air, away from the castle and it's many people.

Looking around me, I noticed that I had stepped out only a few yards away from the Master Sword. Figuring that I had a day or two for them to get here again, I decided to camp out and enjoy the peace while I still could. Soon enough we would be facing Ganon once again and there would be no resting time.

I walked up to a pillar of the ruins of the Temple of Time and leaned against it. It wasn't common for monsters to appear in the Grove, but you never know. Maybe this one time would be the first?


End file.
